PAM. 

MISC. 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 


of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  A. 


At  Work 


FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 


* 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

Assembly  Room .  5 

Assistant  Secretaries .  7 

Board  in  Session .  4 

Campaigns .  14 

Candidate  Department . 14 

Central  Committee  Representative .  21 

Educational  Adviser .  19 

Educational  Department . 18,19 

Executive  Council . 9 

Filing  Department .  9 

Forwarding  Departments .  16 

Library .  15 

Publicity  Department .  14 

Secretary  for  Specific  Work .  21 

Secretaries’  Offices . 7,  8 

Sunday-School  Department .  17 

Treasurer’s  Office  :  .  10 

The  Mail .  11 

Accounting  Department .  11 

Travel  Department .  12 

Telephone . » .  11 

Purchasing  Department .  12 

Shipping  Department .  13 

Woman’s  Board  of  New  York .  20 

“Woman’s  Work’’ .  22 


FOREWORD 


Many  people  in  the  United  States  of 
America  and  in  the  “  Regions  Beyond  ” 
are  interested  in  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  U.  S.  A.  The  aim  of  this  leaflet  is 
to  give  all  the  friends  of  Foreign  Missions 
a  bird’s-eye  view  of  the  workshop  of  the 
Board. 

“156”  Fifth  Avenue  is  a  twelve 
story  stone  building,  standing  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and 
Twentieth  Street,  New  York  City.  It 
was  erected  in  1895  and  at  once  became 
the  headquarters  of  the  Foreign  Board 
which  occupies  the  entire  Eighth  and  a 
part  of  the  Ninth  floors. 


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ABSENT  BOARD  MEMBERS 


ASSEMBLY  ROOM-825 

N  the  Assembly  Room  are  held  the  regular  meetings  of 
the  Assembly’s  Board,  the  first  and  third  Mondays  of  each 
month  except  July  and  August.  In  this  room  are  held  the 
weekly  meetings  of  the  Woman’s  Board  of  New  York  from 
October  to  June,  and  here  also  are  held  the  weekly  meet¬ 
ings  of  the  Minister’s  Association  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
Churches  of  New  York  and  vicinity.  A  noon-day  prayer  service  is 
held  each  day  for  fifteen  minutes,  attended  by  both  the  executive  and 
clerical  force,  by  friends  who  happen  in  at  the  time  of  the  meeting, 
and  by  furloughed  missionaries.  At  these  daily  meetings  the  prayer 
calendars  of  the  Home  and  Foreign  Boards  are  used.  Days  like 
Christmas  and  New  Year’s  are  observed  by  special  meetings.  Here 
also  are  held  Farewell  meetings  to  missionaries,  and  Memorial  services 
for  those  who  have  fallen  on  the  firing  line  of  the  world. 

Around  the  room  are  hung  portraits  of  Board  members  who  have 
finished  their  earthly  task,  and  of  pioneer  missionaries  long  since 
gone  to  their  reward.  At  either  side  of  the  speaker’s  platform  are 
memorial  tablets,  one  to  the  memory  of  five  missionaries  who  were 
killed  at  Paotingfu,  China,  during  the  Boxer  outbreak  of  1900,  the 
other  to  the  memory  of  four  missionaries  who  perished  in  an  uprising 
of  the  Chinese  at  Lienchou,  in  1905. 

Memory  is  rich  with  the  recollection  of  the  June  Conferences 
held  with  outgoing  missionaries.  From  all  parts  of  our  land  they 
come,  and  for  one  week  most  interesting  and  instructive  sessions  are 
held,  where,  from  Secretaries  and  Treasurer,  from  members  of  the 
Board,  and  from  furloughed  missionaries,  they  receive  the  Church’s 
final  words  of  admonition,  counsel,  encouragement  and  God-speed. 

Once  a  month  the  Woman’s  Board  meeting  takes  on  the  charac¬ 
ter  of  an  inspirational  service,  for  on  this  first  Wednesday  of  the 
month,  missionaries  at  home  address  the  large  company  of  women 
who  receive  the  message  from  the  front  and  take  it  to  their  churches 
or  presbyterial  societies. 


5 


THE  EXECUTIVE  COUNCIL 


The  Executive  Council  of  the  Board  is  composed  of  the  four 
Secretaries  and  the  Treasurer.  The  meetings  of  the  Council  are  held 
on  the  Fridays  before  the  regular  sessions  of  the  Board,  and  in  these 
meetings  the  docket  for  the  Board  meeting  is  prepared;  this  Docket 
containing  anywhere  from  20  to  100  items  of  business. 

No  adequate  idea  of  the  work  of  the  Secretaries  and  Treasurer 
can  be  obtained  simply  by  looking  at  their  faces  as  they  sit  at  their 
desks.  You  must  stop  first  at  the 

FILING  DEPARTMENT— ROOM  811 

Not  much  to  see  in  this  room  except  files,  but  if  these  inanimate 
wooden  receptacles  could  speak,  they  would  tell  you  that  safely 
reposing  in  their  depths  is  the  entire  correspondence  of  the  four 
Secretaries  and  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board,  and  of  their  Assistants. 
The  Department  was  installed  in  1911  as  an  experiment  but  has  grown 
to  be  a  necessity,  and  occupies  the  entire  time  of  four  clerks. 

The  letters  as  they  are  received  daily  are  carefully  read  by  the 
Clerks  in  the  Department  and  filed  under  four  general  heads — “Mis¬ 
sion  Letters,”  “Subjects,”  “General  Correspondence,”  and  “Candi¬ 
dates”  (for  missionary  appointment).  The  record  for  a  single  year 
is  as  follows: 


Secretaries'’  Files  : 

Correspondence  with  missionaries, 
on  special  subjects, 
miscellaneous, 


Letters 

40,000 

65,000 

12,500 


Treasurer’s  Files  : 

Correspondence  with  missionaries, 

on  special  subjects,  . 
“  miscellaneous,  .  . 


117,500 


6,250 

15,000 

2,500 


23.750 


The  correspondence  with  3,500  candidates  and  86  appointees  (one 
year)  is  difficult  to  estimate  and  is  not  included  in  the  above  figures. 
All  correspondence  is  considered  strictly  confidential  and  is  kept  in 
locked  cabinets,  accessible  only  to  those  who  have  a  right  to  see  it. 
Much  of  the  141,250  pieces  of  correspondence  is  cross-referenced,  and 
all  of  it  is  indexed  on  cards. 


6 


Secy.  Robert  E.  Speer — Room  808 

Each  one  of  the  Secretaries  is  responsible  for  the  administrative 
relationship  and  personal  correspondence  with  certain  of  the  Missions 
under  the  care  of  the  Board. 

Mr.  Speer  conducts  the  correspondence  with  nine  missions  and 
478  missionaries  in  Central  China,  Kiangan,  Central  and  South  Brazil, 
Japan,  East  and  West  Persia,  the  Punjab  and  North  India. 

Dr.  Brown  corresponds  with  nine  missions  and  588  missionaries 
in  North  China,  Shantung,  South  China,  North  and  South  Siam, 
Chosen,  the  Philippines,  Colombia  and  Venezuela. 

The  Rev.  George  T.  Scott  is  the  assistant  of  both  Mr.  Speer  and 
Dr.  Brown. 


Secy.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D.— Room  812 


Secy.  A.  W.  Halsey,  D.D. — Room  814 


Dr.  Halsey  corresponds  with  88  missionaries  in  Africa  and  Mex¬ 
ico  and  among  the  Orientals  in  the  United  States.  He  also  conducts 
the  correspondence  relating  specifically  to  what  is  known  as  the  Home 
Department  of  the  Board,  i.e.,  with  pastors,  synodical  and  presbyterial 
chairmen,  and  individual  donors,  in  connection  with  plans  for  inform¬ 
ing  and  inspiring  the  home  constituency.  In  connection  with  this 
office  are  the  Library,  the  Publicity  Department,  and  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  itineraries  for  the  furloughed  missionary.  Dr.  Halsey  is  as¬ 
sisted  by  the  Rev.  William  P.  Schell. 

Dr.  White  conducts  the  correspondence  with  the  Syria,  Hainan, 
Hunan,  Western  India,  Chile  and  Guatemala  Missions,  with  262  mis- 


Secy.  Stanley  White,  D.D. — Room  816 

8 


sionaries.  He  is  also  the  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Board  which 
means  that  in  his  department  the  Minutes  of  the  Board  are  written, 
and  the  folios  cared  for.  The  correspondence  with  those  wishing 
appointment  as  missionaries  is  also  carried  on  here.  Dr.  White  is 
assisted  by  the  Rev.  Orville  Reed,  Ph.D. 

Merely  stating  that  a  Secretary  has  charge  of  the  administrative 
relations  and  correspondence  with  a  certain  number  of  missionaries, 
fails  to  take  into  account  the  many,  many  letters  which  must  be  writ¬ 
ten  to  the  Missions  as  a  body,  and  the  amount  of  time  spent  in  passing 
upon  the  almost  innumerable  questions  regarding  policies,  methods, 
expenditures  and  other  matters  which  the  Missions  and  missionaries 
are  constantly  sending  to  New  York,  and  which  must  be  determined 
before  official  letters  can  be  written. 

Nor  does  this  statement  reveal  the  days  and  weeks  spent  in 
speaking  in  churches,  colleges,  seminaries,  and  conferences,  far  and 
near,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Coasts,  making  it  necessary  for 
the  Secretary  to  leave  his  desk  for  long  periods  at  a  time.  Nor  is 
there  any  record  of  the  interviews  in  the  office  with  returned  mission¬ 
aries,  or  those  newly  appointed,  or  about  to  be  appointed,  or  visitors 
from  the  large  constituency  represented  by  the  Board.  A  large  amount 
of  time  too  must  be  given  to  the  various  committees,  denominational, 
inter-denominational,  and  international,  upon  which  the  Officers  of 
the  Board  are  expected  to  serve  in  this  era  when  Foreign  Missions 
has  come  to  have  a  prominent  place  in  the  world  thought  and 
activities. 


Upper  Row — Russell  Carter,  Asst.  Treas.,  Rev.  Wm.  P.  Schell,  Asst.  Secy.,  B.  Carter  Millikin, 
Educational  Secy.,  Rev.  Orville  Reed,  Ph.D.,  Asst.  Secy. 

Lower  Row — Rev.  Geo.  H.  Trull,  S.  S.  Secy.,  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D.,  Educational  Adviser,  Rev. 
Geo.  T.  Scott,  Asst.  Secy. 


9 


Dwight  H.'Day,  Treas. — Room[806 


The  Treasurer  is  an  Executive  Officer  of  the  Board  and  by  virtue 
of  his  office  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council. 

With  his  Assistant,  Mr.  Russell  Carter  (Room  805),  he  conducts 
the  correspondence  which  properly  belongs  to  his  department,  involv¬ 
ing  all  matters  in  connection  with  the  receipt  and  disbursement  of 
money,  property  titles,  legacies  and  bequests,  and  income  investments. 
The  simple  acknowledgment  of  the  money  received  is  attended  to  in 
the  main  office. 

The  Treasurer  reports  to  the  Board  the  state  of  the  finances  at 
least  twice  a  month.  He  acts  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Finance  Com¬ 
mittee  which  is  composed  of  business  men;  the  Chairman  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  being  a  lawyer  who  gives  his  services  free  in  all  legal  matters 
in  which  the  Board  needs  expert  advice.  Full  Minutes  of  the  pro¬ 
ceedings  of  this  Committee  are  kept  by  the  Treasurer,  and  in  con¬ 
nection  with  its  members  he  has  the  custody  of  the  securities,  the 
corporate  seal  of  the  Board  and  property  belonging  to  the  Board. 


10 


Main  Office,  Treasury  Department — Room  801 


THE  MAIL 

All  mail  for  the  entire  Foreign  Board  comes  to  the  Treasurer’s 
office,  is  sorted  and  at  once  delivered  to  the  offices  where  it  belongs. 
Mail  addressed  simply  to  “The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions’’  is  opened 
in  the  Treasurer’s  office.  Such  mail  may  belong  to  any  one  of  24 
different  departments  or  desks,  and  in  many  cases  the  letter  contains 
material  for  three  or  four  departments. 

The  mail  for  the  Treasurer’s  office  contains  remittances  from 
Churches,  Sunday-schools,  individuals,  or  societies.  It  deals  with 
legacies,  or  annuities,  or  matters  relating  to  the  varied  properties  of 
the  Board  at  home  or  abroad.  Much  of  it  relates  also  to  mission 
accounts  and  exchange,  and  all  matters  financial. 

This  mail  varies  from  200  to  400  letters  in  an  ordinary  day, 
to  1,000  or  1,500  a  day  toward  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year.  In  the  last 
six  days  of  March,  1917,  the  entire  clerical  force  in  this  department 
worked  until  ten  o’clock  each  night  for  a  week,  to  care  for  the 
remittances.  A  year’s  mail  totals  25,000  communications. 


ACCOUNTING  DEPARTMENT 

In  the  Accounting  Department,  the  passports  of  50  Mission  and 
Station  Treasurers  on  the  foreign  field  are  audited  and  adjusted; 
this  involving  the  entire  time  of  two  accountants,  and  dealing  regu¬ 
larly  with  some  21  different  kinds  of  exchange. 


TELEPHONE  SERVICE 

The  clerk  in  charge  has  five  trunk  lines  and  30  extensions  under 
her  supervision,  with  an  average  of  500  calls  a  day  between  offices  and 
the  outside  service,  both  incoming  and  outgoing. 


11 


TRAVEL  DEPARTMENT— ROOM  804 

The  Travel  Department  is  a  miniature  Tourist  Bureau.  Approxi¬ 
mately  400  missionaries  yearly,  newly  appointed  and  furloughed,  have 
all  their  travel  arranged  through  this  office.  Information  of  all  kinds 
regarding  transportation,  time  of  trains,  steamer  sailings,  routes,  bag¬ 
gage  and  expenses:  in  fact  anything  relating  to  a  journey  can  be  had 
at  any  time.  From  July  to  November  the  correspondence  is 
voluminous. 

Heretofore  missionaries  have  journeyed  to  and  lived  in  practically 
all  countries,  with  the  exception  of  Russia  and  Turkey,  without  pass¬ 
ports.  During  the  past  three  years,  however,  passports  have  been 
required  in  every  country,  and  now  our  Government  prohibits  any 
American  citizen  from  leaving  the  United  States  without  one.  New 
rules  and  regulations  are  constantly  being  made  and  with  these  the 
Travel  Bureau  keeps  itself  familiar,  so  as  to  advise  those  who  are 
leaving  for  their  fields,  and  are  affected  by  these  changes. 

PURCHASING  DEPARTMENT 

In  the  purchasing  department  orders  are  received  and  filled  from 
any  one  of  the  nearly  1,400  missionaries  of  the  Board.  These  do  not 
include  orders  sent  by  missions  or  individuals  to  the  manufacturers 
direct.  Of  this  latter  class  of  orders  the  Purchasing  Department  audits 
and  pays  the  bills. 

In  six  months  this  department  received  1,257  orders  ranging  in 
value  from  eleven  cents  to  $7,000,  and  from  a  piece  of  a  machine  needle 
to  be  matched,  to  the  purchase  of  an  automobile.  A  complete  outfit 
for  a  woman  missionary,  from  hat  to  shoes,  was  supplied  from  vague 
directions  as  to  sizes,  and  with  the  help  of  a  snap-shot  of  the  mission¬ 
ary  loaned  to  the  purchasing  clerk  by  one  of  the  office  force.  “Razor 
blades  for  my  safety  razor”  was  one  order.  Shoes,  outing-shirts  and 
underwear  were  purchased  from  another  order  which  read — “Please 
send  me  six  like  the  enclosed  picture,”  with  no  sizes  being  mentioned. 
Specifications  were  received  for  a  motor  to  attach  to  an  underground 
well-pump — “It  should  be  able  to  work  under  very  humid  conditions 
and  should  develop  fairly  high  speed.  We  want  one  that  will  be  able 
to  work  without  burning  out,  even  though  the  water  should  fall 
directly  on  the  motor.” 

No  small  item  in  this  department  is  the  help  rendered  to  the  new 
missionary  in  the  purchase  of  his  outfit. 


12 


SHIPPING  DEPARTMENT  — BASEMENT 

After  the  purchasing  is  done,  the  Shipping  Department  takes 
charge  of  the  goods,  and  in  the  Basement  the  actual  work  of  boxing, 
crating  and  otherwise  preparing  articles  of  all  kinds  for  the  mission¬ 
aries  abroad,  is  carried  on. 

The  picture  shows  a  part  of  a  shipment  for  the  West  Africa 
Mission,  consisting  of  some  200  boxes  turned  back  to  the  Board  by 
one  of  the  large  export  houses,  as  they  could  not  in  these  war  times 
guarantee  to  send  it. 

In  nine  months  more  than  3,000  boxes  and  packages  have  gone 
out  containing  all  kinds  of  merchandise  from  sewing  machine  needles 
to  Ford  cars,  agricultural  implements  and  heating  plants.  In  many 
cases,  also,  the  shipping  of  goods  is  arranged  with  firms  where  the 
goods  are  purchased.  Over  800  boxes  and  crates  have  gone  in  a  year 
to  Africa  alone  containing  merchandise  as  follows : 

Ten  gross  boys’  axes  for  industrial  work,  30,000  blank  books,  5,000 
lbs.  of  paper  pads,  50,000  school  slates,  100,000  slate  pencils  for  the  200 
schools.  5,000  lbs.  of  paper  for  printing  press,  large  quantities  of  type ; 
40,000  yards  of  khaki,  denim  and  ticking  for  industrial  plant.  50  gross 
of  safety  pins,  75,000  fish  hooks,  3,000  small  cakes  of  soap  and  800 
cheap  watches  to  be  used  in  trade.  Saw-mill  machinery,  all  kinds  of 
hardware  and  nails,  motorcycles  with  side-car  attachments,  bicycles 
and  extra  supplies,  rubber  tires  for  autos.  Gasoline,  cylinder  oil, 
lubricating  grease,  turpentine  and  linseed  oil,  laundry  soap  (200  cases), 
brooms,  galvanized  pails  and  wash-boards,  window  glass,  tomb-stones, 
hundreds  of  cases  of  provisions,  sewing  machines,  books. 

To  China,  Japan,  Chosen,  Philippine  Islands,  Siam  and  India, 
shipments  weighing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds  have  been  for¬ 
warded,  including  books,  drugs,  school  supplies,  organs,  heating  and 
lighting  plants,  agricultural  machinery  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  5,000,000 
milk  bottle  caps  and  rings  for  the  Agricultural  College  at  Allahabad, 
India,  sewing  machines,  ice-making,  tile-making  and  concrete-mak¬ 
ing  machines. 


13 


CANDIDATE  DEPARTMENT— ROOM  810 

In  the  matter  of  missionary  candidates,  the  Department  is  in 
constant  correspondence  with  over  three  thousand  students  of 
theology,  medicine,  agriculture,  educators  and  evangelists.  It  is  the 
privilege  of  the  Secretary  to  advise  these  young  people,  to  encourage 
or  direct  them  in  their  future  preparation  for  particular  fields  of  serv¬ 
ice.  Each  year  the  conservative  requests  from  the  mission  fields  for 
recruits  number  from  250  to  300,  but  the  Board  can  appoint  only  from 
75  to  100  of  the  best  equipped,  of  the  applicants. 

If  the  candidate  files  at  “  156  91  could  speak,  they  would  tell 
many  a  thrilling  story  of  heroic  struggle  on  the  part  of  these  young 
people — struggle  with  doubt,  with  financial  difficulties,  with  family 
opposition;  and  tell  also  of  signal  victories,  until  at  length  a  devoted, 
equipped,  enthusiastic  life  is  laid  at  the  Master’s  feet  for  foreign 
service. 

The  Candidate  Department  is  working  at  the  fountain-head  of 
the  entire  missionary  enterprise,  for  the  character  of  the  work  done 
in  foreign  lands,  will  be  according  to  the  character  and  equipment  of 
the  missionaries  sent  forth. 


PUBLICITY  DEPARTMENT  — ROOM  913 

This  Department  sends  out  each  month  to  the  religious  and 
secular  press,  extracts  from  letters  of  missionaries,  up-to-date  news 
dealing  with  political  questions  as  they  affect  the  mission  work,  and 
missionary  information  to  individuals,  churches  and  societies  and  the 
general  public.  Leaflets  are  also  prepared  in  this  department  and 
magazines  edited. 


CAMPAIGNS 

Mr.  Herbert  K.  Caskey,  in  Room  903,  is  representing  the  Board 
in  connection  with  the  Home  Department,  in  special  Campaign  work. 

Mr.  Caskey  came  to  the  Board  in  the  Fall  of  1916,  from  the  Lay¬ 
men’s  Missionary  Movement  in  Canada,  where  he  had  served  for  seven 
years  as  Executive  Secretary,  with  headquarters  in  Toronto.  His 
special  duties  at  present  are  to  care  for  the  preliminary  arrangements 
for  the  Board’s  special  campaigns.  During  1916-17  a  number  of  cam¬ 
paigns  were  held  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  East  in  an  effort  to  secure 
funds  for  a  large  development  of  property  on  the  Mission  field.  This 
present  year  the  campaigns  have  been  devoted  for  the  most  part  to  the 
War  Emergency  Fund,  which  has  been  made  necessary  by  the  in¬ 
creased  cost  of  exchange,  higher  rates  of  travel,  etc.  The  officers  of 
the  Board  have  participated  in  these  campaigns  and  have  been  assisted 
by  over  thirty  different  missionaries  representing  nearly  all  of  the 
fields  in  which  the  Board  is  carrying  on  missionary  work.  Several 
friends  of  the  Board  residing  in  this  country  have  also  given  their 
services  gratuitously  to  this  most  important  work. 


14 


THE  LIBRARY— ROOM  815 

More  than  11,000  volumes  are  found  on  the  shelves  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Missions  Library.  These  include  Biographies  of  foreign  mis¬ 
sionaries,  books  on  the  aim  and  theory  of  mission  work,  the  history  of 
missions,  and  on  methods  of  work  at  home  and  on  the  field.  There  are 
also  files  of  reports  and  journals  of  the  various  missionary  societies 
throughout  the  world.  Files  of  clippings  and  thousands  of  photo¬ 
graphs  are  a  part  of  the  Library  equipment,  besides  lantern  slides, 
curios,  costumes  and  a  variety  of  other  helps  for  making  the  study 
of  Foreign  Missions  interesting  and  profitable.  The  Librarian  is  also 
the  custodian  of  the  Biographical  records  of  the  missionaries. 

BUREAU  OF  INFORMATION 

The  Library  is  also  known  as  the  Bureau  of  Information.  Some 
curious  requests  come  to  this  department.  For  instance,  in  a  letter: 
“A  friend  of  mine  married  a  man  by  the  name  of  Smith.  I  think  they 
went  to  China.  Are  they  under  your  Board?” 

Another  letter — A  missionary  on  the  field  for  a  year  wrote  to 
the  Librarian  asking  if  she  could  find  a  counterpane  which  had  been 
lost.  “It  was  a  beauty,  valued  at  $6.50  but  purchased  for  $3.” 

Still  another  letter — “I  would  like  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  all  min¬ 
isters  who  bore,  or  now  bear,  the  name  of  -  (a  prominent 

missionary  in  service),  as  we  have  named  our  baby  boy - and 

think  it  would  be  interesting  for  him  to  have  this  information  in  later 
life.” 


FORWARDING  DEPARTMENTS  — ROOMS  901  AND  902 

LITERATURE 

In  Room  901  is  the  Forwarding  Department  of  the  Assembly’s 
Board.  From  here  all  orders  for  books  and  leaflets,  Annual  Reports, 
“All  the  World”  and  “Field  Despatches,”  are  filled.  Over  1,000,000 
pieces  of  literature  were  required  to  fill  the  12,952  orders  received  in 
one  year,  and  these  orders  did  not  include  samples  of  literature  sent 
to  pastors,  Sunday-school  superintendents,  Synodical  and  Presbyterial 
Chairmen  of  Foreign  Missions  Committees. 


RELIEF  FUNDS 

In  Room  902  is  another  Forwarding  Department.  In  October, 
1914,  three  Syrians  entered  the  Board  Rooms  in  New  York  City 
and  requested  the  Treasurer  to  remit  some  small  sums  of  money  to 
their  relatives  and  friends  in  Syria.  The  money  could  not  be  for¬ 
warded  in  the  usual  ways.  The  request  was  simple  and  it  was  granted. 
In  a  few  weeks  another  request  was  made  that  permission  be  given 
to  advertise  in  the  Syrian  paper  the  fact  that  the  Presbyterian  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  would  receive  money  from  Syrians  and  as  far  as 
possible  forward  it  to  suffering  Syrians  in  Syria.  The  Syrian  is  a 
trader.  He  goes  all  over  the  world.  The  Syrian  paper  follows  the 
trader. 

It  was  soon  necessary  for  the  Board  to  open  a  separate  office  to 
receive  these  funds  which  in  the  three  years  amounted  to  $2,043,913. 

It  was  a  comparatively  simple  task  to  handle  these  funds  in  New 
York,  but  one  of  untold  difficulty  and  sacrifice  for  the  Treasurer  of 
the  Syria  Mission,  at  Beirut,  perhaps  no  more  complex  and  intricate 
a  service  in  all  the  great  World  War. 

One  stands  awed  as  he  thinks  of  the  suffering  relieved,  the  joy 
brought  into  thousands  of  homes,  and  of  the  lives  made  happy  by  the 
act  of  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  the  missionary  and  his  co-laborers. 

A  Syrian  lawyer  in  Sioux  Falls  writes  of  his  appreciation  of  the 
service  rendered  by  the  Board  in  the  following  terms:  “This  is  to 
acknowledge  receipt  of  your  receipt  of  the  forty-five  dollars  which  is 
to  be  forwarded  to  Abraham  or  Najeeb  Karoun,  Karam,  Bookah 
County,  Syria,  and  to  sincerely  and  exceedingly  thank  you  with  all 
other  members  of  the  Board  for  their  loyal  devotion  for  the  cause  of 
humanity.  As  a  Syrian  who  was  converted  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
with  all  members  of  our  family  in  Syria  since  my  infancy,  hereby  do 
express  my  pride  in  my  Church  for  what  it  has  hitherto  done  and  shall 
in  the  future  do  in  behalf  of  the  forsaken,  subjugated  and  oppressed.” 


16 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  DEPARTMENT— ROOM  911 


The  Rev.  George  H.  Trull  is  the  Sunday-school  Secretary  of  the 
Assembly’s  Board. 

The  Sunday-school  Department  is  closely  allied  with  the  Educa¬ 
tional  Department.  Its  object  is  to  provide  adequate  Foreign  Mission 
education  for  Presbyterian  Sunday-schools  and  to  promote  training 
and  giving  to  foreign  mission  objects.  The  Secretary  in  charge 
devotes  his  time  to  office  correspondence  with  Sunday-schools,  advis¬ 
ing  them  regarding  plans  for  missionary  education  suited  to  their 
particular  needs;  the  creation  and  promotion  of  suitable  missionary 
text-books  and  other  literature  for  missionary  instruction,  as  well  as 
literature  dealing  with  plans  and  methods ;  field  work,  including  con¬ 
ferences  with  local  Sunday-school  workers,  addresses  to  Sunday- 
schools  and  churches,  Institute  work  and  Summer  conferences. 

The  Sunday-school  Department  also  issues  the  special  programs 
for  Christmas  and  Easter  for  use  by  Sunday-schools.  Thousands  of 
these  are  sent  out  on  order  annually,  together  with  appropriate  col¬ 
lection  devices,  such  as  envelopes,  coin  cards  and  mite  boxes. 

Specific  object  work  for  Sunday-schools  is  also  handled  by  this 
department.  Letters  are  being  constantly  sent  out  to  inquirers  advo¬ 
cating  the  Station  Plan  which  offers  opportunity  to  contribute  towards 
the  support  of  all  the  work  of  a  particular  station,  provided  the 
pledge  is  for  $10  or  more  annually. 


Five  little  faithfuls  with  their  dolls,  given  to  them  by  a  Sunday-school  in  Kansas 


17 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT 


Organized  1902  to  promote  in 
the  home  churches  the  system¬ 
atic  study  of  foreign  missions 


men 


OR 

ISLAM 

PAGANISM 

ANO 

GREED 


rnmmmmm 


igN/C 


Some  of  the  textbooks  and  accessories  for  Foreign  Missionary  Education 


18 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  DEPARTMENT 


THE  FOUR-FOLD  SERVICE  OF  THE  EDUCATIONAL 
DEPARTMENT  TO  THE  CHURCH 

CURRICULUM  AND  STANDARDS 

In  cooperation  with  the  Mission  Boards  of  other  denominations 
and  with  our  Woman’s  Boards,  the  Educational  Department  pre¬ 
pares  and  offers  to  the  Church  annually  a  carefully  unified  program  of 
missionary  education  and  methods  for  its  use. 

LITERATURE 

Textbooks  for  classes  and  discussion  groups — more  than  fifty  have 
already  been  issued. 

Helps  and  accessories,  including  maps,  charts  and  special  sug¬ 
gestions  for  leaders. 

Sermon  Suggestions,  and  other  materials  exclusively  for  pastors. 

Plays  and  Pageants. 

In  a  single  year  more  than  195,000  pieces  of  literature  were  sold 
or  distributed. 

CORRESPONDENCE 

The  Secretary,  Mr.  B.  Carter  Millikin,  besides  placing  before  every 
pastor  each  Fall  an  up-to-the-minute  list  of  plans,  courses  and  ma¬ 
terials  for  Foreign  Missionary  Education,  is  in  correspondence  annu¬ 
ally  with  between  1,000  and  2,000  pastors  who  write  for  aid  in  planning 
and  making  effective  missionary  education  in  their  churches.  Thousands 
of  mission  study  class  leaders  and  others  planning  to  carry  forward 
mission  study  courses,  series  of  programs,  dramatic  and  other  pres¬ 
entations  of  missions,  are  advised  and  aided  by  correspondence  and 
by  printed  helps. 

FIELD  WORK 

The  Secretary  spends  nearly  one-half  of  each  year  in  field  work. 
This  includes  normal  mission  study  classes  to  train  leaders  for  mis¬ 
sionary  education  in  the  local  churches,  summer  conference  leader¬ 
ship,  addresses  on  missionary  education,  and  on  Foreign  Missions. 

Call  in  person  or  by  letter  at  Room  909,  bringing  with  you  the 
problem  of  missionary  education  in  your  Church.  The  Educational 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  is  eager  to  serve  you. 


EDUCATIONAL  ADVISER 

Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Honorary  Educational  Adviser  of  the  Board, 
occupies  Room  930.  Dr.  Sailer  accepts  no  salary  but  freely  gives  his 
time  and  effort  to  the  work  of  missionary  education.  This  effort  com¬ 
prises  letters  written  to  missionary  candidates  in  all  stages  of  prepara¬ 
tion,  from  those  looking  forward  to  educational  work,  to  those  defi¬ 
nitely  appointed  for  such  work. 

There  is  also  correspondence  with  missionaries  on  the  field  on 
educational  matters.  Each  quarter  a  circular  letter,  discussing  at  some 
length  a  phase  of  education,  is  sent  out  to  all  the  missionaries  engaged 
in  this  work.  A  number  of  other  Foreign  Boards  have  ordered  copies 
of  these  letters  to  send  to  their  educational  missionaries. 


19 


THE  WOMEN’S  BOARD  OF  NEW  YORK 


In  rooms  818  and  820  are  the  offices  of  the  Women’s  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York,  one  of  the 
six  Women’s  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  other  five  Boards  having 
their  headquarters  in  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco 
and  Portland,  Oregon;  all  six  Boards  being  auxiliary  to  the  Assem¬ 
bly’s  Board.  The  officers  of  this  Board  are  all  voluntary  workers,  the 
only  salaries  paid  are  to  the  office  assistants. 

To  this  Board  is  committed  the  responsibility  of  interesting  the 
women,  young  people  and  children  of  the  Church  in  the  territory  cov¬ 
ered  by  this  Board.  Orders  for  literature  are  filled,  missionary  speak¬ 
ers  for  presbyterial  and  local  meetings  are  secured,  letters  and  reports 
from  the  missionaries  under  the  care  of  this  Board  are  duplicated  and 
sent  out;  and  mite  boxes  and  envelopes  prepared  and  issued.  The 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board,  “Presbyterian  Young  People”  (a  quar¬ 
terly  bulletin),  “The  Foreign  Post”  for  children;  and  the  “Westminster 
Guild”  Bulletin  are  also  sent  out  from  here.  Boxes  are  packed  for 
hospitals,  and  dolls,  work  bags,  etc.,  sent  to  missionaries  to  be  used 
as  gifts  in  the  mission  schools. 

In  the  Treasurer’s  Department  an  account  is  kept  of  all  money  for 
missionaries’  salaries,  the  amount  given  for  Station  work,  general 
funds,  etc.  The  New  York  Board  has  on  its  list  for  support  186  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  helps  to  carry  on  the  work  in  97  of  the  167  stations  of 
the  Assembly’s  Board  in  foreign  lands. 

The  receipts  of  the  Board  for  the  fiscal  year,  March  15,  1916,  to 
March  15,  1917,  were  $149,455.69,  but  the  total  funds  cared  for  in  the 
office  for  the  same  period,  amounted  to  $170,972.84.  The  disburse¬ 
ments  included  $151,674.69  paid  to  Dwight  H.  Day,  Treasurer  of  the 
Assembly’s  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  the  support  of  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  under  the  care  of  the  Board,  for  its  share  in  the  work  of  the 
various  stations,  for  the  Special  Fund  for  Latin-America  and  Siam, 
gifts  for  special  buildings  and  War  Emergencies. 

These  receipts  came  to  the  Board  Treasurer  through  the  treasurers 
of  the  thirty-seven  Presbyterial  Societies  which  are  affiliated  with  the 
New  York  Board  and  include  all  those  in  New  York  State,  Kentucky, 
and  New  England,  together  with  the  three  Presbyterial  Societies  in 
Northern  New  Jersey.  The  presidents  of  these  thirty-seven  Pres¬ 
byterial  Societies  are  ex-officio  honorary  vice-presidents  of  the  Board 
and  they  as  well  as  the  other  Presbyterial  officers  are  kept  in  close 
touch  with  the  plans  and  needs  of  the  Board  by  frequent  correspond¬ 
ence  and  personal  visits  to  the  Rooms  818  and  820. 

The  New  York  Board  and  the  other  five  Women’s  Boards  of 
Foreign  Missions  are  linked  together  by  the  Central  Committee  of 
Presbyterian  women  for  Foreign  Missions  composed  of  six  members, 
each  representing  one  of  these  Boards.  The  object  of  this  Committee 
is  to  unify  the  work  of  the  six  Boards  by  the  development  of  a  general 
policy  through  which  they  are  practically  a  national  organization. 


20 


SECRETARY  FOR  SPECIFIC  WORK-ROOM  917 


Mrs.  Halsey  L.  Wood  is  the  Secretary  for  Specific  Work.  In 
her  department  assignments  are  made  of  missionaries  for  support  by 
churches  and  individuals,  as  well  as  many  assignments  on  the  Station 
Plan.  This  involves  a  large  correspondence  not  only  with  the  churches 
and  individuals,  but  also  with  the  six  Women’s  Boards.  A  record 
of  all  gifts  for  the  support  of  the  missionaries  or  towards  the  work 
they  are  doing  is  kept  here. 

Thousands  of  Quarterly  Station  letters  from  the  field  are  copied 
and  sent  out  from  this  office  to  the  supporters  at  home.  The  Year 
Book  of  Prayer  for  Missions  is  edited  in  this  office. 

The  Secretary  for  Specific  Work  is  also  the  General  Secretary  of 
Central  Committee  of  the  six  Women’s  Boards,  and  acts  as  a  link 
between  them  and  the  Assembly’s  Board.  She  is  the  Treasurer  of 
Central  Committee,  and  in  this  capacity  keeps  the  accounts  and 
renders  an  audited  report  to  each  of  the  Boards  at  the  close  of  the 
fiscal  year. 

CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  REPRESENTATIVE— ROOM  927 

Miss  Margaret  E.  Hodge,  Executive  Secretary  of  Central  Com¬ 
mittee  represents  the  Committee  in  the  Executive  Council  of  the 
Assembly’s  Board,  and  meets  with  that  body  at  their  regular  sessions 
before  each  Board  Meeting. 


“  To  thousands  who  use  the  Year 
Book  the  great  cause  of  missions 
will  be  re-emphasized  day  by  day, 
and  as  the  Far  East  and  the  Far 
West  meet  in  these  pages  so  may 
a  new  vision  of  a  world  won  for  the 
Master  come  to  those  who  pray.” 


21 


“WOMAN’S  WORK”— ROOM  905 


The  motorist,  the  golfer,  the  dealer  in  dry  goods,  in  iron,  in 
drugs — each  one  has  his  special  periodical  which  keeps  him  posted 
about  his  own  special  interests.  The  Presbyterian  woman  also  who 
cares  about  Foreign  Missions,  has  her  journal.  It  is  called 
“WOMAN’S  WORK”  and  is  edited  and  sent  out  from  Rooms  905 
and  904. 

It  goes  to  its  subscribers  once  a  month  and  brings  the  latest  news 
of  the  country  assigned  to  the  month  in  articles,  items,  letters,  pic¬ 
ture  and  comment.  It  brings,  too,  a  special  message  from  the  Head¬ 
quarters  of  each  Board,  with  items  of  news  about  its  officers  and  work, 
suggestions  about  the  home  work,  how  to  plan  programs  for  meet¬ 
ings  and  carry  on  in  systematic  and  efficient  style  the  affairs  of  the 
auxiliaries.  On  every  page  of  the  magazine  is  program  material. 
Indeed  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  use  of  “Woman’s  Work”  can  be 
omitted  if  an  auxiliary  means  to  keep  up  to  date  in  mission  matters 
and  methods.  It  is  taken  regularly  by  almost  30,000  Presbyterians. 
It  comes  out  from  that  humming  hive  of  activities  “156.”  It  is 
edited  by  Mrs.  Henry  R.  Elliot.  It  costs  but  five  cents  a  copy  or  fifty 
cents  a  year. 


FEBRUARY 


CHOSEN 


WOMAN'S 

WORK 

A  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  MAGAZINE 


The  House  by  the  Side  of  the  Road 


On  the  Road  with  a  Board’s 
Traveling  Salesman 


f(T 


PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  OF  THE. 

WOMAN’S  BOARDS  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  U.  S.  A. 


1 


156  FIFTH  AVE. .NEW YORK. 

PHILADELPHIA  .CIHCAtQ.NIMORK,  SIUMS.SAN  PRANUSC^imANILOKL 


1918 


iiiilisi 


READER 


If  the  perusal  of  these  pages 
leads  you  to  “  156,”  be  assured 
you  will  find  a  hearty  welcome, 
for  our  doors  are  open  for  your 
entrance,  and  our  workshop  is  at 
your  service. 


February  1918 


Form  2586 


